Modern communication networks and electronic devices have changed the way individuals in society interact and communicate. These devices increasingly provide advanced computing capabilities along with a variety of other features and options that improve the user's experience with the device. Some common examples of the features and options include e-mail, cameras, Wi-Fi, SMS and MMS messaging, web browsers, voice/video calling, image and video capturing, and GPS capabilities. In addition to these common features and options, modern electronic devices often include operating systems that can run software applications on one or more processors. The software applications can be installed (e.g., by the manufacturer, mobile carrier, or by the user) on these devices to perform a variety of specific tasks and/or extend the functionality of the devices.
As these networks and devices have evolved so has the ease at which users interact with the features and options. However, the use of these features can be distracting as users look at the screen. This can be particularly unsafe during a variety of activities, such as, driving. For example, users of these electronics devices will often look at the screen of an electronic device to use e-mail, read or send an SMS message, surf the web browsers, enter destinations, and/or use other features while driving. As a result, new techniques are needed to provide users of these electronic devices better ways to interact with the electronic devices without the need to look at the screen when their attention is needed to perform another activity.
The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments of the present technology. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.